S$# 039 Olivia Newton-John | Suspended In Time
There are two reasons that make it particularly appropriate to highlight a song by the wonderful Olivia Newton-John today:
Xanadu is, of course, the much-maligned roller disco movie that Olivia starred in back in 1980, her follow-up to the smash success Grease. Regardless of what one thinks of the movie - and I'll have more to say about that on the 30th - it's hard to deny the quality of the music that went into it: five Olivia songs and five ELO songs, one of which had Olivia singing lead instead of Jeff Lynne. The album produced several big hits.Suspended In Time is not one of the hits, but it's actually my favourite Olivia track on the album.
Written and produced by long-time ONJ collaborator John Farrar, SIT is a plaintive love song that expresses the enchantment that an immortal muse (ONJ as Kira, actually aka Terpsichore, the muse of dance) feels for a mere mortal, Sonny (Michael Beck). But the song works outside the context of the movie. It's a universal message, about overcoming the odds to make love work:
Olivia sings it with great emotion. It's a mystery to me why this song was not released as a single - one that might have made it as big as Hopelessly Devoted To You from Grease.
Suspended In Time is available only on the Xanadu soundtrack, which you can buy at Face The Music Online. The album may or may not be up for remastering as part of Sony/BMG's ELO reissues.
(Observant Brain Capacity readers will note that SIT is the second song I've spotlighted from Xanadu - the other being ELO's superb Don't Walk Away last month.)
- It's her birthday. Born September 26, 1948 in Cambridge, England, the Australian chanteuse is 58 years old today. Happy Birthday, Olivia.
- I saw Xanadu in the cinema 26 years ago this week. It was on September 30, 1980, in fact. Suspended In Time is from the soundtrack of that film.
Xanadu is, of course, the much-maligned roller disco movie that Olivia starred in back in 1980, her follow-up to the smash success Grease. Regardless of what one thinks of the movie - and I'll have more to say about that on the 30th - it's hard to deny the quality of the music that went into it: five Olivia songs and five ELO songs, one of which had Olivia singing lead instead of Jeff Lynne. The album produced several big hits.Suspended In Time is not one of the hits, but it's actually my favourite Olivia track on the album.
Written and produced by long-time ONJ collaborator John Farrar, SIT is a plaintive love song that expresses the enchantment that an immortal muse (ONJ as Kira, actually aka Terpsichore, the muse of dance) feels for a mere mortal, Sonny (Michael Beck). But the song works outside the context of the movie. It's a universal message, about overcoming the odds to make love work:
A child and a fool in one
So sure I could need no one
My heart always on the run to nowhere
Now as you're holding me
My heart is reminding me
That now I could never be without you
But how can our love succeed
A miracle is what we need
And so I appeal to you
Keep me suspended in time with you
Don't let this moment die
I get a feeling when I'm with you
None of the rules apply
But I know for certain
Goodbye is a crime
So love if you need me
Suspend me in time
Wasted the time away
Holding your love at bay
Now I can't last a day without you
Your smile is a thrill to see
Your eyes hold me tenderly
They'll shine in my memory forever
Olivia sings it with great emotion. It's a mystery to me why this song was not released as a single - one that might have made it as big as Hopelessly Devoted To You from Grease.
Suspended In Time is available only on the Xanadu soundtrack, which you can buy at Face The Music Online. The album may or may not be up for remastering as part of Sony/BMG's ELO reissues.
(Observant Brain Capacity readers will note that SIT is the second song I've spotlighted from Xanadu - the other being ELO's superb Don't Walk Away last month.)
posted by droppingpin at 10:15 PM
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